Myrcene : Know Your Terpenes

Get to know the couch-lock terpene

PostedFebruary 24, 2018

Being one of the major terpenes found in cannabis, Myrcene is also known as the “couch-lock” terpene. It’s best known for its ability to help sedate, and can sometimes compose of 50% of a strain’s terpene profile in indicas. You can identify myrcene by its musky scent, being best described as similar to cloves, and also being present in mangoes, ylang-ylang, parsley, hops, and verbena.

It’s because of this terpene that eating a mango 45 minutes before smoking cannabis will enhance the plant’s effects. Users report that this is indeed true and not a random theory – myrcene being present in mangos, and assisting in augmenting THC with a faster onset of effects.

While myrcene helps sedate by relaxing muscles and seemingly easing our stresses away, it also mimics the analgesic, or rather, pain-reliving properties, as lemongrass tea. Users report that Myrcene can help in reducing inflammation, and has been shown to assist other cannabinoids being absorbed into the blood brain barrier.

Most indica strains contain myrcene, but some with higher traces include Himalayan Gold, Skunk #1, White Widow, and Pure Kush.

If planning to cook with myrcene, don’t go over its boiling point of 332 degrees Fahrenheit, otherwise you’ll vaporize it and render its effects useless.

And as always, remember terpenes affect each of us differently depending on our body chemistry and what compounds are present that they can act synergistically with. The mangos are proof!